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SAP Enterprise Architecture A Blueprint for Executing Digital Transformation (Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa)(Z-Library)

Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa

SAP Enterprise Architecture A Blueprint for Executing Digital Transformation (Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa)(Z-Library)

Author Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa

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Does digital transformation ever stop? The answer is a resounding “no" and this book guides you in developing an SAP enterprise architecture that prepares you for constant technology changes. The book introduces enterprise architecture, the role it plays in executing successful business strategy, and its application in SAP. A detailed step-by-step guide teaches you how to utilize SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer to model the four key areas: business, data, landscape, and requirements. Executives will gain insight into the considerations that will aid them in building their digital transformation road map while remaining agile to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. and adapting to the new normal. SAP partners and consultants will find their place in SAP’s future. By the end of this book, you will learn what SAP enterprise architecture is and how to develop it along with its best practices. You Will Understand The fundamentals of enterprise architecture SAP enterprise architecture How SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer helps your enterprise Business, information, and infrastructure architecture Enterprise architecture best practices How enterprise architecture can prepare your business for the future Who This Book Is For Executives who currently run SAP implementations or are considering SAP implementations, SAP partners and consultants along with aspiring SAP consultants, and technology enthusiasts interested in understanding and articulating IT and business alignment through enterprise architecture

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SAP Enterprise Architecture A Blueprint for Executing Digital Transformation Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa
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SAP Enterprise Architecture: A Blueprint for Executing Digital Transformation ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-8574-9 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-8575-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-8575-6 Copyright © 2022 by Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Managing Director, Apress Media LLC: Welmoed Spahr Acquisitions Editor: Divya Modi Development Editor: Laura Berendson Coordinating Editor: Divya Modi Cover designed by eStudioCalamar Cover image designed by Pixabay Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer Science+Business Media New York, 1 New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004-1562, USA. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax (201) 348-4505, e-mail orders-ny@springer-sbm.com, or visit www.springeronline.com. Apress Media, LLC is a California LLC and the sole member (owner) is Springer Science + Business Media Finance Inc (SSBM Finance Inc). SSBM Finance Inc is a Delaware corporation. For information on translations, please e-mail booktranslations@springernature.com; for reprint, paperback, or audio rights, please e-mail bookpermissions@springernature.com. Apress titles may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional use. eBook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference our Print and eBook Bulk Sales web page at http://www.apress.com/bulk-sales. Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available to readers on GitHub via the book’s product page, located at www.apress.com/. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.apress.com/source-code. Printed on acid-free paper Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa Johannesburg, South Africa
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This book is dedicated to the Musukutwa Clan and especially dedicated to Judith, Sheanesu, Jeremy, Annan and Aretha.
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xi About the Author Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa is a seasoned SAP Consultant and Technical Business Analyst who began his career over a decade ago. He was part of a team that carried out the first implementation of SAP Business Suite on HANA in Africa. Starting out as an SAP Technical Consultant, Sheunopa transitioned into an SAP Business Intelligence Consultant and Business Analyst. This broadened his horizons and allowed him to understand SAP from a holistic perspective. His technical background allows him to translate the use and benefits of technology to business people. Sheunopa possesses multiple SAP certifications and is a graduate of the University of South Africa.
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xiii About the Technical Reviewer Ishmael Makitla has a rare combination of scientific and academic rigor, strong technical expertise, and an uncommon tolerance for difficult tasks all of which have seen him succeed in all environments where he applied his trade. His background covers scientific and industrial research, academia, and FinTech (specifically the banking domain). Ishmael joined a large Sandton-based investment bank as a Senior FinTech Developer (Java) and later became a DevOps Lead, responsible for software development and environment management. In the few years that he’s been with the bank, he has contributed significantly to the marked improvement in the stability and performance of the statutory and regulatory reporting and data analytics platform. He also worked on the Corporate Cash Manager platform for one of the private banks where he was responsible for the implementation of an enhanced and automated AML screening for client onboarding. Before moving into the banking domain, Ishmael was a Senior Technologist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for eight years (2009–2017). During this time, he worked on various complex projects, including the Health Population Registration System for which he built the data synchronization system. Ishmael won multiple awards for his contributions and was also awarded four Technology Demonstrators/ Inventions while at CSIR, bearing testament to the depth of his technical knowledge and scientific understanding. He is currently writing his doctoral thesis as a Doctoral Candidate at the University of South Africa
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xiv (UNISA) studying toward a Ph.D. in Computer Science; he holds a master's degree (Cum Laude) in Information Technology from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (2012). He also holds a bachelor’s degree in technology (B.Tech.) in Engineering Computer Systems from Tshwane University of Technology (2008). His Ph.D. study focuses on developing a collaborative and corroborative Semantic Web Service Monitoring mechanism. He is currently exploring topics such as philosophy of technology, future Internet applications, enterprise architecture, platform- based business models, semantic data mining, and ontology engineering as well as emerging FinTechs and DevOps. He has co-authored academic conference papers and made presentations at conferences and workshops; he has been invited to give talks at conferences and on public media (TV/radio stations). His previous involvements in the academic and tech communities include Eskom Expo for Young Scientists International Science Fair, Country Mentor for Google Developer Groups, Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) Pretoria Chapter, part-time lecturer (for B.Tech.), reviewing for online tech courses (Udacity: Android), conferences, and journal articles. abouT The TeChniCal RevieweR
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xv Acknowledgments Divya Modi and the Apress team have worked tirelessly to ensure that the book is well written, structured, and completed on time. The impact of their efforts on the writing of this book has been invaluable, and I am truly thankful. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Ishmael Makitla who has ensured that this book is technically sound through his thorough and in-depth technical reviews of every chapter. In the same vein, I would like to thank Sijabuliso Nkiwane for putting me in touch with Ishmael. Ishmael has offered his valuable practical experience in the area of Enterprise Architecture to steer this book in the desired direction.
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xvii Introduction What is enterprise architecture? Ask ten different people and get ten different answers. Every business has an architecture, whether it is aware of it or not. Every business consists of elements that make it tick. Business goals and objectives, various stakeholders, data, applications, servers, disaster recovery sites, and the list goes on and on. How does your business manage all of these elements? Furthermore, how does your business manage these elements in a way that leads to strategic advantage? Enterprise architecture may mean different things to different people, but one thing we cannot disagree on is its importance. It is quite literally a means to not only surviving but thriving in a constantly changing world. Years ago, an ERP project could stretch from three to five years, which is far from today’s reality. Organizations are expected to be agile and adapt to the conditions of their environment at a moment’s notice. The number one question is “how?” This book serves as the answer to that question in an SAP context, though the principles in this book can be applied to any business. The answer to the question “how?” starts by establishing where your business is now. Enterprise Architecture is about vividly describing where your business is today through modelling the processes, capabilities, resources, data, and technological assets that sustain your business in a way understood by multiple stakeholders. This is achieved through the multiperspective approach that Enterprise Architecture provides. This process is extended to capturing the vision of the future of the business, once again, through modelling the aforementioned elements. Enterprise Architecture also allows for the modelling of intermediary states between the current and future states of your business.
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xviii This book provides a practical look at how to go about using SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer to model and document your Enterprise Architecture. However, a holistic approach has been taken in the writing of this book through starting with the very basics of Enterprise Architecture. This means that this book is suitable for people that are new to Enterprise Architecture all the way to advanced readers who are looking to apply this knowledge in the real world. Ultimately, Enterprise Architecture provides a solid base for planning, analysis, decision making, and strategy execution. It is similar to a puzzle in which you initially figure out what pieces are currently at your disposal and how they fit together; thereafter, you decide what pieces are missing to complete the puzzle you envision; then you set about creating those pieces. This is the essence of enterprise architecture and what separates it from merely developing systems; the enterprise is the system! Elements such as the individual systems, processes, capabilities, and data within your business are pieces to a puzzle; Enterprise Architecture is how you piece that puzzle together. inTRoduCTion
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1 CHAPTER 1 Introducing Enterprise Architecture The business ecosystem has become more and more complicated over time. Over the years, change has continued to be a constant, and businesses have increased in agility in order to better equip themselves for survival. Change in the business environment has generally come in the following forms: • Technological change that has revolutionized operations and introduced new business models • Increased competition from start-ups and legacy companies alike • Greater customer expectations • Changes in regulatory landscape These factors have created complexity in the business ecosystem that must be navigated accordingly. For instance, there is no way your business can be certain how regulations may change in the next five years, but your business can make decisions today that will ensure that it will be flexible and agile enough to navigate those changes. Maintaining the ability to © Sheunopa Chalmers Musukutwa 2022 S. C. Musukutwa, SAP Enterprise Architecture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-8575-6_1
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2 adapt to new business demands will not only ensure an enterprise’s survival but can ultimately lead to a competitive advantage. As mentioned, there is no way to predict most of the changes an enterprise will encounter; however, Enterprise Architecture enables your business to be agile enough to adapt to a changing environment. From the onset, building the right technological infrastructure to support an enterprise’s business needs is crucial. Consider the following scenario. Your business may purchase software to address a specific need at a particular point in time. Over time, business needs will change. Your business should be flexible enough to change in accordance with new business needs, which may mean replacing that software. This transition should occur without significantly affecting the existing Enterprise Architecture if the enterprise’s business processes have been designed to be solution-agnostic. Unfortunately, if the architecture that was used to select that software was lacking or nonexistent, it’s likely going to be a difficult process filled with patch work. This is the fundamental issue with legacy systems. In the 1960s, intentional information systems planning was introduced to incorporate strategy into the design of information systems and has since evolved to address different challenges. One particular challenge presented itself in the 1990s. At the time, siloed IT systems meant that integration and interoperability were major issues. Businesses wanted their systems to cut across these silos, share information, and achieve holistic integration. Information systems planning facilitated this by considering end-to-end data flows between departments and determining management information requirements in the context of the entire business. Solution architects began to adopt a structured approach to design solutions that accommodated growth and innovation in order to address changing business needs. Over time, the same approach of building an IT landscape equipped for change has been expanded to the entire enterprise. With the rise in adoption of middleware and Service-Oriented Architecture putting an end Chapter 1 IntroduCIng enterprIse arChIteCture
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3 to siloed IT systems, the focus changed to the business and IT alignment, enabling the businesses as a whole to adapt to change in a coherent manner. Information technology can now be classified as a change enabler by being flexible enough to offer the capabilities required by changing business needs. The concept of Enterprise Architecture has developed into a multiperspective view of business processes, business objectives, data, systems, and IT infrastructure. Enterprise Architecture is a globally recognized discipline with its own standards, frameworks, and best practices. It is important to note that even though a business may not specifically utilize EA to build their business, the business will still have an architecture, whether it has been consciously designed or not. As we shall explore in this book, an enterprise’s architecture consists of components such as its people, technology, and business capabilities within the context of how they relate to each other in attaining strategic goals. In summary, EA involves – Insight into the components that form your enterprise and the relationships between these components – Articulating an enterprise’s desired future state to drive your enterprise’s business strategy – Defining steps, standards, and guidelines required to transition toward a desired future state of your enterprise – A basis for the control, overseeing, and management of change – Providing a reliable reference to support management decision making Chapter 1 IntroduCIng enterprIse arChIteCture
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4 An agile Enterprise Architecture allows businesses to apply changes to processes and capabilities rapidly. The right architecture defines the present and desired future states of an enterprise while facilitating the transition to that future state. This book will explore what Enterprise Architecture is, its value, and its application to equip you with the knowledge to navigate business change and complexity. The book starts off by laying a standard foundation of Enterprise Architecture (EA) before focusing on SAP Enterprise Architecture and SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer specifically. EA has evolved from only consisting of technological systems but now includes the goals, makeup, and running of your business. The next section seeks to further articulate the definition of EA. Defining Enterprise Architecture If you ask ten people what Enterprise Architecture is, you’re sure to get ten different answers. This is largely because EA can be defined differently depending on the context in which it is being utilized. For instance, for an organization seeking to align its IT capabilities with its business goals: Enterprise architecture is the process by which an organi- zation standardizes and organizes IT infrastructure to align with its business vision and strategic goals. The following would be a definition suited to an enterprise looking to utilize EA to navigate business change and complexity: Enterprise architecture is a process of consciously leading how an enterprise adapts to change by conceptualizing and overseeing the transition toward a desired future business state. Chapter 1 IntroduCIng enterprIse arChIteCture
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